It has been a bad financial year for us. Need some advise please. Should we sign or not? ...?

Question

Had some unexpected medical bills and other problems financially in the last 18 months.  We now have a Collection agency threatening us with legal action.  They said they would not take us to court if we aggreed to pay $100 bucks per month for the next year and then reassess the situation in 12 months.  I said fine, and they said they would send us the aggreement to sign.  Now that we have the aggreement, it is 6 pages long and basically strips us of all our rights as well as allowing them to tack on a bunch of additional fees if we are one day late with a payment.
My main question is that I heard several years ago, that if you are making regular payments, even if it is not a set amount, they cannot llegally take you to court.  Is this still the case or have the laws been changed?

MadMan · Answer

It have NEVER been the law that if you are making a regular payment that you could not be taken to court.

Do not sign.  If you do, I bet that you will have paid out $1,200 and the amount you owe will be the same.  And they will probably sue you then anyway.

If you can scrap together 50% of the amount you owe, offer this in exchange for cancellation of the debt, in writing.  Otherwise, I would ignore them.  If they do sue you, you MUST turn up at the court with proof of your income so that they cannot claim too much from you.

Philip H · Answer

Don't sign. 
Consult an attorney. If you are in major financial straights and live in a large city there may be legal services to advise you provided by your city at no cost. 
Don't panic and move too quickly until you understand all the details. It is likely you have at least 30 days to respond to that letter but please note: The date for the response may be based on the date on the letter and I have received such letters that had a date two weeks prior to the receipt of the letter. Write down the date you received the letter so you will have a record of that for your own benefit, but that note will not stand up (legally) if you are talking to a Judge.
No contract regarding such matters should require six pages. I smell subterfuge and it may require a specialist in contract law and debt collection to give you the correct answer.

? · Answer

if you have signed the agreement already they can now make you leagaly responsible for the intire previous amount. Never sign an agreement. Make payments,don't sign.Better off to not make any payments to ANY collection agency!!!! They can do nothing about itfor medical bills they write it off.You can apply at the hospital for Hal Burton Act.

prusa1237 · Answer

There is free credit counciling available if you are unable to consult an attorney.  I certainly would get some advice before I signed anything.

It has been a bad financial year for us. Need some advise please. Should we sign or not? ...?

4 Answers